Pallet with a soft covering material

ABSTRACT

A pallet consisting of a deck ( 1 ) and a number of feet ( 3   a,    3   b,    3   c,    3   d ) placed under the deck. When the deck is loaded with goods ( 5 ) for transport the pallet is covered with a soft covering material ( 4 ). The latter is made from plastics or textile and removably fastened to the deck ( 1 ) at least at one place by wedging a corner ( 4   a ) of the covering material tight in at least a first incision ( 9 ) in at least one clamp ( 7 ) mounted on the deck ( 1 ). It is thus obtained that the goods loaded on the pallet may be securely covered and held in place on the pallet; the pallet becoming relatively easy to handle.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a pallet of the kind consisting of a deck and anumber of feet placed under the deck, where the pallet when the deck isloaded with goods for transport is covered with a soft coveringmaterial, for instance made of plastids or textile and removablyfastened to the deck by at least one clamp.

BACKGROUND

From JP published patent application No 2002362559A there is known asynthetic resin pallet, on a mounting part of which goods may be placedand bound tightly with ropes to a part of the pallet. This constructionis rather complicated because a rope or ropes are needed.

From DE published patent application No 2327317A1 a method of fasteninga foil hood to a pallet is known, by which method folded corner portionsof the foil hood are provided, said corner portions, by means of tapes,being bound to a foot of the pallet. The fastening of the folded cornerportions of the foil is not provided by use of a slot and a hole, asaccording to the present invention.

From GB patent publication No 807571, a pallet with a matching containersuperstructure is known. The pallet on which the goods to be transportedis placed constitutes the bottom of the container. This palletconstruction takes up a lot of space and is thus not very suitable fortransport functions where the volume just above the deck (i.e. thesupporting surface) must be kept to a minimum. In addition, it is aproblem that an operator who has to move such a pallet by means of afork-lift truck may have difficulties placing the prongs of the truckaccurately in the spaces between the feet of the pallet. Accurateplacement of said prongs is important as it reduces the wear of theprongs on the pallet.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the invention is to provide a pallet of theabove-mentioned kind which is more simple than the prior art pallets asthere is no use of ropes at all, and which is also more reliable.

The pallet according to the invention is characterised in having atleast one clamp fixedly mounted on the edge of the deck, said clampallowing a wedging of a corner of the covering material tight in atleast one incision in the clamp, and that the outermost end of saidcorner of the covering material is put through a hole in the clamp. As aresult, a more simple pallet than the prior art pallets is obtained asrope or ropes are avoided; the goods placed on the deck may be securelycovered and held in place on the deck by means of the covering material.As the end of said corner of the covering material is also put throughthe clamp hole, the covering material will be kept to the deck in a morereliable way than previously.

According to the invention, the side of one or more of theabove-mentioned feet May be provided with a guiding line-like markingvisible from a position removed from the pallet, preferably from aposition above the level of the pallet, to be used when moving thepallet by means of a truck with prongs. From his position on the truck,the operator will thus easily be able to locate the foot/feet of thepallet to aim for when inserting the prongs below the deck of thepallet. As it fits tightly to the deck, the above-mentioned coveringmaterial will not cover the spaces between the feet of the pallet,thereby making it easy to insert the prongs of the fork-lift truck inthese spaces.

According to the invention, the above-mentioned incision may beconstituted by a slit having two substantially parallel edges on asubstantial part of its length. As a result, it is obtained that eachclamp may efficiently hold the covering material of plastics or textileparticularly tight.

Further, according to the invention, the clamp may have a secondincision positioned next to the first incision and into which theoutmost end of a corner of the covering material may be further wedgedor crammed after said corner has been fastened in the first incision,but before said outermost end is put through the hole in the clamp. As aresult, an exceptionally secure fastening of the covering materiel tothe deck is obtained.

Moreover, according to the invention, the clamp may have a thickness ofat least 3 mm and have smoothed edges. Hereby, an exceptionallyefficient fastening Of the tightened covering material is obtained.

According to the invention, a clamp may be positioned on the deck, closeto each of the corners of the deck.

According to the invention, the clamp or clamps may be galvanised, bywhich it secured that said clamp or clamps become particularly resistantto the effects of water.

According to the invention, it is moreover possible to make theabove-mentioned clamp or clamps of plastics, preferably by mouldedcasting. Thus, the clamps will be very cheap to produce.

According to the invention, said clamp or clamps may either be fastenedto the deck by screws or imbedded into the deck, which has provenparticularly efficient.

According to the invention, the guiding line-like marking may beconstituted by a—compared to the outer lateral side of the foot inquestion—narrow, elevated ridge or a narrow groove. It is thus obtainedthat the marking becomes particularly visible.

Moreover, according to the invention, the narrow ridge or the narrowgroove may extend both along a lateral side of the foot facing away fromthe pallet and a lateral side of the foot facing an adjacent foot. It isthus secured that the above-mentioned truck operator will easily be ableto find the spaces below the pallet where the prongs of the fork-lifttruck are to be inserted.

Moreover, according to the invention, the guiding line-like marking maycomprise a length of an affixed ribbon, which has shown to provide aparticularly visible marking.

Moreover, according to the invention, each guiding line-like marking maybe provided in the area between the point marking the lower third andthe point marking the upper third of the foot in question, which hasproven particularly advantageous in practice.

Finally, according to the invention, each guiding line-like marking mayhave a width of at least 1.5 cm and a colour Which differs from thecolour of the foot in question, the marking preferably being of a brightcolour. Thus it is to a large extent that the truck operator when usingthe fork-lift truck to insert the prongs of the truck under the deck ofthe pallet, will easily be able to find the correct spaces for insertionof the prongs.

It should be noted that the pallet in question is particularly usefulwhen it is of the dimensions 80 cm×120 cm, 80 cm×200 cm, 80 cm×250 cm,or 80 cm×60 cm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is explained in detail below with reference to thedrawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a pallet according to the invention butwithout covering material on the deck, and where a clamp for theabove-mentioned covering material is clearly visible on the deck,

FIG. 2 shows the pallet of FIG. 1 where the deck plus goods are coveredby a sheet of covering material fastened by clamps according to theinvention,

FIG. 3 shows a clamp seen form the front and on a larger scale, and

FIG. 4 shows a central, vertical section through a foot of the pallet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The pallet shown in FIG. 1 consists of a deck 1 and a number of feet 3a, 3 b, 3 c placed under the deck: however, not all of the feet areshown. The deck may be loaded with goods 5 for transport, and the goodsand the top of the pallet is covered with a soft covering material 4.The covering material is made from plastics or textile and is fastenedto the deck 1 by means of a clamp 7, which is preferably placed close toone of the corners of the deck 1. Several clamps 7 may be providedaround the deck 1.

On the side of one or more of the mentioned feet 3 a, 3 b; 3 c, and 3 d,eg the side 3 b′, a guiding line-like marking 6 may be provided, whichis preferably visible from a position next to the pallet and from alevel considerably higher than the pallet. This guiding line-likemarking is used when moving the pallet with a truck, since the operatorof the truck by means of the marking may lead the prongs of the trucksecurely in place between the mentioned feet.

As shown in FIG. 3, each clamp may be provided with two substantiallyparallel edges 9 a, 9 b on a substantial part of the length of the clampso as to clearly form a slit. As shown in FIG. 2—when placing thecovering material 4—a corner of the covering material 4 is introducedand wedged into this slit so that the entire covering material willtightly surround the deck, but not cover the spaces between the feet 3a, 3 b, 3 c, and 3 d.

As shown in FIG. 3 a hole 10 is provided next to the first incision 9,into which the outmost end 4 a of a corner of the covering material isalso wedged or crammed after said corner has been fastened in the firstincision 9. The clamp usually has a thickness of at least 3 mm and hassmoothed edges, which prevents said edges from spoiling the coveringmaterial of the corner.

The clamp 7 may be galvanised in order to make it weatherproof.

The clamp or clamps can be made from plastics, preferably by mouldedcasting, and may either be fastened to the deck 1 by screws or imbeddedinto the deck.

The above-mentioned guiding marking 6 may be constituted by a—comparedto the outer lateral side of the foot 3 b—narrow, elevated ridge or anarrow groove. The important thing is that the marking is clearlyvisible. The narrow ridge or the narrow groove 6 may extend both along aside of the loot facing away from the pallet, i.e. towards the spectatorand a side of the foot facing an adjacent foot, eg the adjacent foot 3 c(cf FIG. 1).

Each guiding line-like marking 6 may be provided in the area between thepoint marking the lower third and the point marking the upper third ofthe foot 3 b in question. Each guiding line-like marking 6 may have awidth of at least 1.5 cm and a colour which differs from the colour ofthe foot in question, the marking 6 preferably being of a bright colour.

Many changes can be made to the invention without departing from thescope of the invention. The feet 3 e, 3 b, 3 c may eg be “friction feet”securing a certain amount of friction between the steel prongs of thefork-lift truck and the deck 1.

In addition, the top side of the deck 1 may be provided with a number ofparallel friction ribs to provide friction between the deck 1 and thegoods loaded on the deck.

Vertical guiding line-like markings (lines) may be provided on all ofthe feet 3 a, 3 b, 3 c, and 3 d at one side of the deck 1, with adistance of approximately 5 cm from the edge.

The vertical guiding line-like markings may preferably be placed on anouter foot at the long side of the deck, typically approximately 2 cmabove ground/floor level.

1. A pallet of the kind consisting of a deck (1) and a number of feet (3 a, 3 b, 3 c, 3 d) placed under the deck, where the pallet when the deck is loaded with goods (5) for transport is covered with a soft covering material (4), for instance made of plastics or textile and removably fastened to the deck (1) by at least one clamp (7), characterized in that said at least one clamp (7) is fixedly mounted at the edge of the deck (1), said clamp allowing a wedging of a compressed corner (4 a) of the covering material tight in at least one incision (9) in the clamp (7), and that the outer end of said corner of the compressed covering material is put through a hole (10) in the clamp (7).
 2. A pallet according to claim 1, characterised in that the side of one or more of the above-mentioned feet (3 a, 3 b, 3 c) is provided with a guiding line-like marking (6) visible from a position removed from the pallet, preferably from a position above the level of the pallet, to be used when moving the pallet by means of a truck
 3. A pallet according to claim 1, characterised in that the above-mentioned incision (9) is constituted by a slit having two substantially parallel edges on a substantial part of its length.
 4. A pallet according to claim 1, characterised in that the clamp (7) has a second incision (10) positioned next to the first incision (9) and into which the outmost end (4 a) of a corner of the covering material may be further wedged or crammed after the corner has been fastened in the first incision (9) but before said outermost end is put through the hole in the clamp.
 5. A pallet according to claim 1, characterised in that the clamp (7) has a thickness of at least 3 mm and has smoothed edges.
 6. A pallet according to claim 1, characterised in that a clamp (7) is positioned on the deck (1), close to each of the corners of the deck.
 7. A pallet according to claim 1, characterised in that the clamp or clamps (7) are galvanised.
 8. A pallet according to claim 1, characterised in that the clamp or clamps (7) are made from plastics, preferably by moulded casting.
 9. A pallet according to claim 1, characterised in that the clamp or clamps (7) are either fastened to the deck by screws or imbedded into the deck.
 10. A pallet according to claim 2, characterised in that the guiding line-like marking (6) is constituted by a—compared to the outer lateral side of the foot in question—narrow, elevated ridge or a narrow groove.
 11. A pallet according to claim 1, characterised in that the narrow ridge or the narrow groove (6) extends both along a lateral side of the foot facing away from the pallet and a lateral side of the foot facing an adjacent foot (3 c).
 12. A pallet according to claim 2, characterised in that the guiding line-like marking (6) comprises a length of an affixed ribbon.
 13. A pallet according to claim 2, characterised in that each guiding line-like marking (6) is provided in the area between the point marking the lower third and the point marking the upper third of the foot in question.
 14. A pallet according to claim 2, characterised in that each guiding line-like marking has a width of at least 1.5 cm and a colour which differs from the colour of the foot in question, the marking preferably being of a bright colour.
 15. (canceled) 